1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to colorimetric determination of organic peroxides and hydrogen peroxide and more particularly to a simple and effective peroxide pen for the colorimetric determination of organic peroxides and hydrogen peroxide.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,717 issued Jul. 27, 1994 to Harel Itzhaky and Ehud Keinan for a method and kit for the detection of explosives provides the following state of technology information: “Improvised explosive devices based on peroxide containing materials have increasingly been used in recent years by various terrorist organizations, especially in Israel, as well as in the UK and the USA. The main reason is that such peroxide-based explosives can be easily “home-made” using inexpensive, readily available starting materials which can be purchased in most hardware and paint stores, even in bulk quantities . . . . Another commonly used peroxide based explosive is hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (hereinafter “HMTD”). It can be conveniently prepared by treating hexamethylenetetramine with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a weak acid, such as citric acid, in order to neutralize the liberated ammonia . . . . Although many peroxide containing materials of the above-described type are known for more than 70 years, no satisfactory method for their detection has been suggested to date. The detection of peroxide-based explosives is particularly difficult because all these materials do not contain nitro groups or any other nitrogen oxide functional groups. Since most of the currently available explosive detectors are based on the detection of nitro groups, they cannot be employed for detection of peroxide-based materials. Consequently, and in view of the increased use of such peroxide-based explosives by terrorists, especially in the Middle East as well as in other parts of the world, there exists an urgent need for highly sensitive methods and devices for the early detection of peroxide-based explosives and improvised explosive devices employing them.”
United States Published Patent Application No. 2004/0265169 for an inspection tester for explosives provides the following state of technology information: “It is known that surfaces in contact with explosives (for example, during storage, handling, or device fabrication) will readily become contaminated with explosives particulates as a result of their inherent stickiness. This phenomenon is illustrated in studies that show large persistence of explosives on hands, even after several washings (J. D. Twibell et al., “Transfer of Nitroglycerine to Hands During Contact with Commercial Explosives,” J. Forensic Science 27 (1982) 783; J. D. Twibell et al., “The Persistence of Military Explosives on Hands,” J. Forensic Science 29 (1984) 284). Furthermore, cross contamination in which a secondary surface is contaminated by contact with a contaminated primary surface can also readily occur. For example, a measurable amount of ammonium nitrate (AN) residue has been found on the lease documents for a rental truck, and significant amounts of the explosives PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) and/or AN have been found on clothing and inside vehicles of suspects in two well-publicized bombings. Therefore, explosives residue will likely persist in large amounts on the explosives packaging and environs, as well as on the individuals involved in building the explosives device, which can provide an avenue for detection of the presence of explosives.
International Patent Application No. WO 2005/089058 by Shai Amisar published Sep. 29, 2005 for a method and kit for detecting explosive substances containing certain oxidants provides the following state of technology information: “In recent times, the use of home-made, improvised explosives has been growing rapidly, and peroxide based explosives, like triacetonetriperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD), have been shown to be easily manufactured and almost as strong as the standard explosives used today. Methods and tests kits for detecting explosives selected from nitroaromatics, organic nitrates, nitramines, inorganic nitrates, chlorates and bromates, have been described by Margalit in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,380 and 5,480,612. Neither of these patents describe detection of peroxide based explosives. Itzhal et al, in W0 99/43846, has described a method and kit for detecting an organic peroxide-based explosive in a sample. The organic peroxide is hydrolyzed with strong acid to release hydrogen peroxide, and the resulting mixture is reacted with a peroxidase enzyme and a substrate capable of being oxidized by the oxidant under the catalysis of the enzyme to produce a pronounced change in a measurable physical parameter of the substrate.